


Corner store

by raccoonraccoon



Category: Original Work
Genre: Coming of Age, F/F, High School, Oblivious, Pining, Sapphic, Slow Burn, TWO IDIOTS, oblivious idiots, wlw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-05
Updated: 2021-02-16
Packaged: 2021-03-17 11:42:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,045
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29224890
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/raccoonraccoon/pseuds/raccoonraccoon
Summary: June and Dee are best friends, in their last year of high school, and completely oblivious of their feelings for each other. Also Dee works at a corner store, that's literally the only reason that's the title, that and I like it.
Relationships: Original Female Character(s)/Original Non-Binary Character(s), Original Female Character/Original Female Character
Kudos: 2





	1. Dee

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry this is so short! I promise the later one's will be longer

Cold has always been something to bring me back down to reality. The shivers that creep up my back to my shoulders make me feel grounded. Sometimes my pumping blood and steady breaths aren’t enough to remind me that I’m alive and healthy. Sometimes the cold is one of the only things that can make me feel safe. Heat is suffocating to every part of my being, but I can feel cold air fill up my lungs, and bite at my toes. 

She likes the heat though. I make fun of her and call her a reptile because she takes naps in the sun whenever it’s warm out. But she doesn’t really hate the cold either. Ever since we were kids she’d always be the first to ask to to come play in the snow with her. We’d build forts and have snowball fights, make snowmen and give them names and personality. She’s the girl who I grew up with. The girl whose hand I held when we were both nervous for our first day of first grade, first day of middle school, first day of highschool. She’s the girl who I’m moving into our first apartment with, after we graduate this year. She’s the girl having fun inside, while I'm lying on the railing hazily watching my breath in the sharp winter air. 

I'm a little tipsy, but not enough to be worried about falling sideways fifteen feet to the ground. Even so, there would be a comforting two feet of snow to catch me. I’m facing the beautiful stars speckled across the deep blue sky above me, asking them questions about the world. Petty questions really, usually my questions are about things like the distant past, not the near future. But tonight, I’m asking the stars why June kissed Robbie. 

I really don’t have a problem with Robbie. I like him. I’ve hung out with him a few times, and he’s really quite nice to be around. He has a good sense of humour, and he skates with myself and Hen sometimes. So, I can’t help but wonder why something twists in my chest when I think about him kissing my best friend. 

I hear the sounds of the party get just a touch louder for a moment, while the glass sliding door leading into Bailey’s kitchen opens. There’s a crunch of someone's shoe on the snowy deck, before I hear the door close again. In my peripheral vision I see a tall masculine figure blocking the light from inside, it’s Hen. 

“Hey.” By the way Hen’s silhouette is swaying, I’d say they’re pretty drunk. 

“Hey.” I don’t grant them a glance, not a chance to read my mood or my thoughts. Hen walks over to sit on the railing next to me, before realizing they’re not sober enough to do that safely, so they settle for the snowy floor instead. 

“Why are you looking at the stars instead of people?” Hen knows I’m not one to leave a party unprompted, but I am one to sit outside and look at the stars, take a breather. They understand that a breather isn’t required unless something happened, something upset me. Hen knows me better than almost anyone else. I sigh and glance to the right near my feet where Hen is sitting in the snow- defeat. Just when I want to open my mouth they interrupt me.

“It’s June isn’t it?” The amount of time it took me to respond was too much of an indicator in itself- Shit. Hen comes off as clueless, but they’re very observant, sometimes annoyingly so. I furrow my brows showing my distaste for suggesting that, Hen drunkenly smiles back.

“I have a headache, parties are loud.” Not exactly a lie, but not quite a truth either. Hen seems to have something to say, but they shrug it off. The unspoken truth between us is something that I know is shared. I go back to talking to the stars while they stare at the crescent moon. 

The two of us decide to go back inside when the cold has gotten all the way to our cores, and agree that I need more alcohol. I sit on the kitchen counter, talking about movies with Bailey. Most of Bailey’s business is public information. So I’m not the only one who knows that her mom goes out of town a lot for work. This makes Bailey the party thrower of our school, whether she wants to be or not.  
Hen returns from the fridge with two beers, one for me and one for them. We open the beers and start to drink while the three of us discuss horror. Bailey thinks jump scares are cheap and should never be in horror movies. I agree that they’re stupid, but I still see the importance of their place in some films. Hen just straight up disagrees, saying that tension is built with the anticipation of a jumpscare. Bailey says that tension can be built with the anticipation, but lacking actual payoff. The two of them go back and forth on the subject until we’re interrupted. Ainsley is asking us if we want to play spin the bottle. We most definitely do not. Hen is happily dating our friend Nadia, and I'm not in the mood to kiss anyone tonight, this means Hen and I are alone in the kitchen after the brief interaction with Bailey. We quickly realize we’ve had enough of this party.

We chuck our empty beer cans into the recycling, get our jackets from Bailey’s room, and slip out the back door again. It’s just before twelve oclock, the party will likely go on for a little while longer. The couple dozen teenagers will get even more drunk, June and Robbie will kiss more, I don’t think we’ll be missing out. Hen and I begin the ten minute walk to their house, conveniently the party wasn’t too far away, not that it could be as our town isn’t exactly big. Laketown is a place with a population of about twelve thousand. It’s a place scattered with small houses and families of three. At the heart of the housing area is mostly old people. People who grew up here and never moved away. They planted roots then never decided to move anywhere else. That’s just the way things happened, and that’s what I’m most afraid of. 

Hen and I continue our discussion from the kitchen during our walk. The conversation morphed from arguing about jumpscares to “which horror movie will we be viewing tonight”. When we finally reach Hen’s tall yellow house we decide on Stephen King’s Carrie, a little bit gory and creepy, but mostly funny. Hen’s house has three bedrooms. The first two are on the second floor, while the third is the entire attic. Hen used to have the bedroom opposite to their sister’s on the second floor, but when their parents split up and dad seemed to disappear, their mom gave them the third floor. But these days Hen mostly sleeps in the shed or at Nadia’s. They say the attic is too big, it feels empty, their sister hasn’t asked to switch bedrooms, yet.

“June’ll want you apologize to her y'know.” Hen knows that I know that. June had helped Bailey prepare for this party, she said she was excited to dance with me, I promised I would. I would’ve loved to if right when our song came on Robbie Davis hadn’t made a move on her. But that’s no reason to ditch your best friend at a party.

“Yeah, I know.” I sigh. Hen grabs the spare key from the hook under their porch. We creep into the kitchen through the back door and grab a couple more beers from their extensive collection of alcohol, Hen’s mother definitely won’t notice. I reach into the cupboard and grab a half eaten bag of goldfish crackers. Hen grabs an unopened bag of plain salty chips from the same cupboard and we walk back outside. They stick the key in the shed door, and turn the lock, the door creaks open. The shed is slightly insulated, enough that we can take off our coats and substitute them with blankets. But not warm enough that I don't shiver a bit before we settle in with pillows and quilts on the big comfy green couch.  
“Do you think she’ll be mad?” I feel bad, Hen gives me a knowing look. 

“I should text her.” 

“You should.” They say this sleepily, then turn on the tv and open netflix. The empty search results tell us Carrie isn’t there, so they get up to look through the movie cabinet. Hen opens it and stares blankly at all the movies, clearly not processing anything they’re looking at. Being the slightly less intoxicated one, I come to help. Eventually we find Carrie and I put it in the dvd player while they slump back onto the couch. I join them, then proceed to pull my phone out of my pocket to drunkenly type some semblance of an apology.

Dee  
Sorrry me anf Hen dipped 

No response. She’s probably busy making out with Robbie, gross. I lean back and slump onto Hen’s shoulder. The tv lights up and the opening credits start rolling. We’re all cozy wrapped in blankets, so warm. It would be such a perfect moment if I still weren’t thinking about that stupid kiss.


	2. June

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> June's perspective- the night of the party

Robbie is a good kisser, like really good. I can’t help but wonder if he’s had a lot of practice, or maybe it’s just a natural talent of his. Maybe he’s naturally gentle, and maybe his lips are naturally soft. I mean he is a naturally charming guy. 

Robbie and I have been friends since grade nine, but I’d never really thought about kissing him. So you’d imagine that when I showed up at another one of Bailey’s parties with my best friend in tow, I wasn’t expecting to be pulled aside during Good old fashioned lover boy by Queen, one of mine and Dee’s favourite songs. Before Dee and I could even find each other to sing along, Robbie had pulled me to the side of Bailey’s living room, and asked to kiss me, I said yes. 

I don’t regret kissing Robbie. No, what I do regret is doing whatever I did to make Dee leave early. I was excited to get drunk and party with her, but I was disappointed that after Robbie and I broke apart, Dee and Hen were nowhere to be found.

Here’s the thing about Dee, she doesn’t really care. I mean she does, but she doesn’t really let things bother her. I know that me missing out on singing along with her wouldn’t have made her mad. But for some reason I can’t shake the feeling that I did something wrong. I’m torn between concern and anger, and as I’m pondering this in Bailey’s small main floor bathroom, my phone dings.

Dee  
Sorrry me anf Hen dipped 

I’d respond to the text, but I don’t really know what to say. There’s a little hint of hurt in my chest, she’s never just abandoned me like this. My worrying is the only thing keeping me from shooting back a passive aggressive text. Besides, I’m probably too drunk to have a conversation with her over text anyway, and by the looks of it she is too.

I look up from my phone at my reflection- I look like a mess- wonderful. I walk out of the bathroom to head back to the couch, where the activity seems to be transitioning from spin the bottle to a conversation about the media from our childhoods. Slumping down next to Robbie I give him a smile before he kisses me again. 

Robbie and I are walking to my house, arms linked together, because I’m a little drunker than he is and need the extra support. We had spent the rest of the party playing more games, badly singing along to nostalgic songs from our childhood, kissing more, it was fun. I had said I was going home, hoping he would offer to walk me, and he did. I didn’t really feel comfortable walking alone at this hour. 

“I had a really good time tonight.” Robbie uses a much gentler tone than what I'm used to. It’s void of the usual comedic tone he likes to use. The guy who’s usually all jokes is being genuine.

I look up at him and his messy brown hair, his freckles and crooked nose, the drunk smile he’s giving me- I return the expression. Is this the smile a girl gives a boy she likes? I’ve kissed plenty of people in the past, but despite my want to be in a relationship, I haven’t dated anyone before. I could like Robbie, I really could. He’s tall and funny, he’s genuine and cool, and his lips are soft. I like the way he asked to kiss me. He said it kind of matter of factly, but there was a hint of nervousness. I mean he wanted to kiss me, so why not kiss him back?

“I had a good time too.” I lean into him a little more when I say this, almost toppling the two of us over in the process. We laugh as we catch each other to regain balance. We chat about little things for the rest of the walk; How funny it was when Bailey had to kiss Cameron, who was so fucked I’m not sure that they’ll even remember playing a game. We reflected on our favourites of the music selection that night. We both agreed that whoever played 2011 Justin Beiber was a saint. He made a jab at the way I had known all the words to every one direction song, which I of course retorted very defensively. This mock-anger ended up in giggles as I couldn’t quite hold myself together, and of course he laughed with me.

And all this just reinforces the idea that I could like Robbie.

Robbie drops me off at my house, but he needs a ride home so I wait outside with him until his sister comes to pick him up. Before he leaves he gives me a quick kiss, then hops in her car. 

Waving him off, I bathe in the beautiful night that it is. The quiet that a blanket of snow brings, the warmth in my body. These are the moments Dee talks about the most. The moments she writes about in poetry and music. Quiet ones where you’re alone with the world yet the world doesn't feel lonely. The moments where you can feel the air in your lungs and have some unique sense of comfort. I never thought about these moments, until Dee pointed them out. I glance at the text she sent me again, and debate replying. Why would she just leave? 

I breathe in the cold air again, I look at the starry sky, and break the world’s silence with the crunches underneath my boots as I head to my front door. 

The complete lack of hangover that I have the next morning is astonishing. I reach up to run my fingers through my hair, searching for some hint of headache- nothing. The golden sunlight trickling through my curtains leaves a pretty glowing line on my sheets. I roll onto my left side to pick up my phone from my bedside table. When the screen lights up I come up with my response to Dee. I’m hurt, but I don’t want to make a big deal out of this. Still, part of me hopes she’ll read in between the lines and give me a proper apology. I send back the most unbothered sounding text I can think of. I go to my unread messages on instagram and see a direct message from Robbie. 

Robbie  
Good mornin

June  
morning!

Robbie  
My head feels somewhere in between merry go round spinning and stubbed toe throbbing

June  
Mine feels somewhere between completely normal and fantastic

Robbie  
Now thats just straight up unfair

June  
:)))

Robbie  
Wanna hang out later? There’s something I wanna ask you

Before I can reply I see a text from Dee, I roll my eyes dramatically, for no one but myself. This better be an apology. 

It isn’t, she’s asking to hang out later. Suddenly Robbie’s message isn’t on my mind anymore. As badly as I’d like to stay mad at her, I’m going to assume the best, that she’ll apologize in person. So I agree to meet her at the corner store at six. 

After shooting a “Sorry, busy” text to Robbie I start getting ready for my day. Now looking in the bathroom mirror I may feel good but I do not look it. What time did I even get home last night? The only things that I really remember are Dee ditching me and the constant physical contact I kept with Robbie for almost the whole night. 

But despite the I-got-fucked-up-last-night under eye bags and birds nest of a head of hair, I think I look pretty good. It’s taken a while to get here but I like the way I look. My features are expressive and unique to me, and my curly hair although high maintenance makes me feel super cool. 

After showering and washing my face I get dressed in a knit sweater over a tank top and some baggy jeans. Dee always manages to look so effortlessly cool, where in her words I: “Dress like either a forest nymph or someone’s grandpa- In the best way possible!”

She’s not the best at phrasing her thoughts- especially when those thoughts manifest in compliments, but I understand what she means. Even when she stumbles over her words and hardly gets them out cohesively I can always decode what’s happening in her brain. Last night is the first time that her actions have left me utterly clueless. 

I spend the rest of the day leading up to 5:40 switching between homework and painting. When it’s finally time to leave I suit up for what looks to be a blizzard and march to the store. Dee better explain herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> looks like I lied the chapters aren't gonna be super long but that might change who knows

**Author's Note:**

> Hen and Dee have the best friendship and I love them for that


End file.
